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Father says boy 'abandoned' at Texas home was dropped off at wrong house

Posted: 8:23 AM, Oct 18, 2018

Updated:2018-10-18 19:12:24Z

By:
Scripps National

UPDATE (3 P.M. EASTERN THURSDAY)
The father of a 2-year-old boy left on a stranger's doorstep in Houston, Texas says the boy was left by a friend on the wrong doorstep, KPRC television station reports.

Royal Simmons, the father, told a reporter with the station the boy was dropped off at a neighbor's house by a friend delivering him for the toddler's mother, who was in the hospital. She had the wrong house, he said.

EARLIER STORY:
Police have identified the family of a 2-year-old boy who was abandoned on a stranger's doorstep near Houston on Wednesday evening.

According to the Montgomery County (Texas) Sheriff's Department, a resident of Spring, Texas home heard a knock on her door at about 8:20 p.m. local time on Wednesday night. When she went to the door, she found an unaccompanied young boy on her doorstep.

Footage taken from the resident's video doorbell shows a woman, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office described as "in her mid-20s to early-30s" approach the door with the 2-year-old boy, knock on the door, get back in her car and drive away.

The boy appeared to be in good health.

On Thursday morning, the Sheriff's Office confirmed that it had located the boy's father thanks to local media reports the citizen tips. KTRK
in Houston reports the Child Protective Services took custody of the boy and would continue to watch him until he was reunited with his family.

Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.

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